Quote Originally Posted by Hazir View Post
TBH; I don't understand how his difficult experiences with travellers should excuse what he does. In my work I encounter people of all ethnicities and I would consider myself to be doing an extremely lousy job if I would let pre-judice decide how I treat them.
I didn't say it's excusable, I said it's understandable. Because I understand what he's saying and recognize that his thought-process and his feelings about these experiences are common and natural to many--or even most--people, although many will not articulate those thoughts in the way RB has done here. What RB described of his encounter with Travellers is not all that different from the time Loki explained how he might alter his behavior if he were about to encounter "dangerous"-looking black men. That doesn't mean RB is right or that he's good, and the attitude he demonstrates can certainly be an obstacle to professionalism, esp. when it's transferred to a different context eg. police racially profiling or just generally mistreating racial minorities.

Becoming explicitly aware of prejudices, regardless of whether or not one personally feels that those prejudices are legitimate/justified, is a prerequisite for dealing with them and developing some semblance of a professional demeanor. You know this as well as anyone. I'm shocked but, honestly, quite glad that he said what he did, because it makes it more clear where he's coming from.

I'm not going to hold RB to the same standards of professionalism I do myself, or my colleagues, or that you hold yourself to. His profession doesn't require it. The appropriate standard to apply to RB--in real life--is basic decency, and I will give him the benefit of the doubt and presume that he can meet that standard in his real life, even if he can't seem to do so here. The appropriate benchmarks for him in these online discussions are accuracy, rationality and truthfulness. I'll try to focus on that for the time being.